Produce handling system

ABSTRACT

The invention is a produce handling system with a self-unloading trailer and a free-standing conveyor. The trailer has an unloading conveyor in its bottom covered by removable doors. The free-standing conveyor has an infeed section that receives the produce from the trailer unloading conveyor pivoted to an out feed section which delivers the produce from the infeed section to a stacking position such as a truck.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a division of my co-pending application Ser. No.876,887, filed Feb. 13, 1978, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,422.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Material handling systems incorporating conveyors, both of the freestanding type and as part of trailers or other container vehicles, arein common use today. While these material handling systems have beenrelatively successful in handling materials that are relatively durableand thus not easily damaged, they have generally been unsuccessful inhandling relatively fragile produce, especially relatively heavy producesuch as watermelons, cantaloupes and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other problems and disadvantages associated with the prior artare overcome by the invention disclosed herein by the provision of amaterial handling system capable of handling a wide variety of materialsincluding relatively heavy fragile produce such as watermelons,cantaloupes and the like without damage thereto. The system of theinvention is extremely simple in construction yet significantlyfacilitates both the field harvesting operation of the produce and theloading of trucks to haul the produce to market.

The apparatus of the invention includes a self unloading trailer and afree standing conveyor. The trailer has a trailer frame with groundengaging wheels; a bed on the frame with a produce receiving bin and aconveyor channel along the bottom of the bin; and a trailer unloadingconveyor mounted in the conveyor channel with a V-shaped pan extendingalong the length of the conveyor channel, a trailer idler unit at oneend of the conveyor channel, a trailer drive unit at the opposite end ofthe conveyor channel and an endless conveyor belt extending over theV-shaped pan and around the idler unit and drive unit so that theV-shaped pan supports the conveyor belt along opposite edges thereofwith the conveyor belt forming a natural catenary shape not in contactwith the V-shaped pan between the opposed edges of the conveyor belt tocushion the produce on the conveyor belt as the conveyor belt moves theproduce from the produce receiving bin.

The free-standing conveyor has an infeed section with spaced apart,longitudinally extending side members, a plurality of transverselyextending cross members connecting the side members at longitudinallyspaced positions, and a V-shaped pan extending along the length of theinfeed section between the side members over the first cross members; anoutfeed section with spaced apart, longitudinally extending sidemembers, a plurality of transversely extending cross members connectingthe side members at longitudinally spaced positions, and a V-shaped panextending along the length of the outfeed section between the sidemembers over the cross members; a pivot joint connecting one end of theinfeed section to one end of the outfeed section so that thelongitudinal axes of the infeed and outfeed sections are generallylaterally aligned and so that the infeed and outfeed sections can bepivoted with respect to each other; and idler unit at one end of thefree standing conveyor; a drive unit at the opposite end of the freestanding conveyor; a transfer idler unit at the pivot joint; and anendless conveyor belt extending along the length of the infeed V-shapedpan, over the transfer idler unit, along the length of the outfeedV-shaped pan, around the drive unit, and around the idler unit so thatthe V-shaped pans support the conveyor belt along opposite edges thereofwith the conveyor belt forming a natural catenary shape not in contactwith the V-shaped pans between the opposed edges of the conveyor belt tocushion the produce on the conveyor belt as the conveyor belt moves theproduce along the length of the free standing conveyor.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will becomemore clearly understood upon consideration of the following descriptionand accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the invention in use;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the trailer of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of that portion of the trailer enclosed byline 3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 4--4 in FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged portion of the rear end of the trailer taken alongline 5--5 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line 6--6 in FIG.5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view taken generally along line 7--7 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the trailer taken alongline 8--8 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the free standing conveyor of theinvention;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 10--10 inFIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional view of the conveyorof FIG. 9 at the pivot joint; and

FIG. 12 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional view of the infeedend of the conveyor of FIG. 9.

These figures and the following detailed description disclose specificembodiments of the invention, however, it is to be understood that theinventive concept is not limited thereto since it may be embodied inother forms.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the inventive concept isincorporated in a produce handling system 10 which includes aself-unloading trailer 11 and a free-standing truck conveyor 12. Thetrailer 11 is usually towed by a farm vehicle such as farm tractor Tpartly seen in FIG. 1 while the conveyor 12 is used to load or unloadany transporting vehicle such as the tractor-trailer truck TT also seenin FIG. 1.

The self-unloading trailer 11 is best seen in FIGS. 1-8 with alongitudinal axis A_(T) and includes a trailer frame 15 with trailerwheels 16 and a hitch 18 so that the trailer 11 can be hitched to a farmvehicle such as tractor T and towed. The frame 15 mounts a producecarrying bed 19 thereon with an unloading conveyor 20 thereunder tounload the produce from the bed 19.

The bed 19 is mounted on longitudinal frame side members 21 and hasseveral bed cross members 22 carried on members 21 (FIG. 8). Each of thebed cross members 22 has a central, upwardly opening conveyor cutout 24with the cutouts 24 in the cross members 22 being aligned along thetrailer axis A_(T) to form a conveyor channel 25 along the length of thebed 19. A V-shaped conveyor support pan 26 (FIG. 8) is mounted inchannel 25 and supported by cross members 22 adjacent cutouts 24. Thepan 26 extends along the length of bed 19 with each leg 28 thereofdefining an angle A_(PL) with the horizontal as will become moreapparent. Fixed floor members 30 extend along the length of bed 19 overcross members 22 from the conveyor channel 25 out to the side edges ofthe bed. The inside edge 31 of floor members 30 adjacent channel 25 arebeveled (FIG. 8) at about the same angle as legs 28 on pan 26. Thechannel 25 is selectively covered by removable doors 32 so that doors 32form a continuation of the floor members 30 when in place. On the otherhand, the doors 32 can be removed to open up the conveyor channel 25during unloading. The outer side edges of the bed 19 are provided withupstanding side walls 35 supported by side stanchions 36 on crossmembers 22 while the opposite ends of bed 19 are provided withupstanding end walls 38 carried by end stanchions 39 on cross members22. The floor members 30, side walls 35, and end walls 38 define aproduce receiving bin 34 therebetween. The inside surfaces of floormembers 30, side walls 35, end walls 38 and doors 32 are covered withpadding 40 such as a carpeting material to prevent damage to the producecarried in the bed 19 as will become more apparent.

The unloading conveyor 20 includes an endless conveyor belt 45 extendingalong conveyor channel 25 trained over an idler unit 46 (FIGS. 2-4) anda drive unit 48 (FIGS. 2 and 5-7). While the location may be reversed,the idler unit 46 is shown at the front end of trailer 11 while thedrive unit 48 is shown at the rear end of the trailer. The conveyor belt45 has a width less than the width of channel 25 and is made out ofconventional belting material sufficiently strong to be supported alongits outer edges with its central section forming a natural catenarycurve (FIG. 8). The angles A_(PL) of the pan legs 28 are selected sothat the legs 28 conform generally to the catenary shape of the belt 45along its outer edges but clear the center of the belt 45. This allowsthe belt to cushion the produce as it is carried thereby to preventdamage thereto. The weight of the produce may distort the naturalcatenary transverse shape of belt 45, but the central section of thebelt will always clear the pan 26 to provide the cushion effect while atthe same time reducing the power necessary to drive the belt 45. Theupper flight 50 of belt 45 thus rides on top of pan 26 while the lowerflight 51 passes under the pan on idlers 52 (FIG. 4).

The idler unit 46 (FIGS. 3, 4) has an idler roller 55 rotatablyjournalled in bearing blocks 56 about axis A_(IR). Each of the bearingblocks 56 is movably mounted on longitudinally extending slide rails 58fixedly mounted on the trailer frame 15 forwardly of bed 19. A slidescrew 59 connects each bearing block 56 to a locating tab 60longitudinally fixed on slide rail 58 through positioning nuts 61 sothat each of the bearing blocks 56 can be longitudinally adjusted alongslide rails 58 independently of each other by manipulating nuts 61. Thehold down bolts 62 on bearing blocks 56 are used to lock blocks 56 inposition. This permits both the tension in belt 45 and its tracking onidler roller 55 to be adjusted. A raised annular centering band 64 (FIG.4) may be provided around roller 55 to help keep conveyor belt 45centered thereon.

The drive unit 48 (FIGS. 5-7) has a drive roller 66 rotatably journalledin bearing blocks 68 about axis A_(DR) generally normal to the traileraxis A_(T) at the rear end of trailer 11. The off side bearing block 68is adjustably mounted on one of the mounting brackets 69 on the rear bedcross member 22 (FIG. 6) while the rear bearing block 68 is fixed to atubular D-shaped carriage bracket 70 (FIG. 7) which is in turnadjustably mounted on the other mounting bracket 69. A fluid drive motor71 is affixed to the outside of carriage bracket 70 with its drive shaftcoaxial with the shaft of roller 66 and is coupled to roller 66 withincarriage bracket 70 to drive roller 66. The roller 66 may also have araised centering band similar to roller 55 to facilitate belt tracking.Thus, roller 66 can also be adjusted to tension belt 45 and controltracking.

The drive motor 71 is connected to an appropriate pressurized fluidsource to drive same. One such source is the auxiliary hydraulic system(not shown) of farm tractor T. FIGS. 5 and 6 show a high pressure line72 and a return line 74 connected to motor 71 through quick disconnectcouplings 75 and to the tractor T as seen in FIG. 1. An adjustableregulating valve V_(R) may be provided in the high pressure line 72 toregulate the speed of motor 71 and a solenoid control valve V_(S) mayalso be provided to selectively enable and disable motor 71 as willbecome more apparent. Auxiliary high pressure line 76 and auxiliaryreturn line 78 may be provided to connect other equipment to thehydraulic drive in parallel with motor 71 through quick disconnectcouplings 79 as will become more apparent. The motor 71 drives theconveyor belt 45 so that its upper flight 50 moves from the front towardthe rear of trailer 11.

The rear end wall 38 (FIG. 5) is provided with a central, generallysemicircular opening 80 directly over the upper flight 50 of conveyorbelt 45 so that produce moving rearwardly in bed 19 on the upper flight50 can pass through the opening 80 in rear end wall 38 and out of bed19. Appropriate padding 81 is provided around the opening 81 to preventdamage to the produce passing therethrough.

TRAILER OPERATION

The trailer 11 is used to transport the produce from a field harvestingoperation to a central unloading point. While different kinds of producecan be handled by the trailer 11, its operation with watermelons W willbe described as an example. The doors 32 are placed over the conveyorchannel 25 to cover same and the trailer 11 towed to a field harvestingoperation with the farm tractor T. The field workers pick thewatermelons from the vines and place them in the bed 19 of trailer 11.When the trailer is full, it is towed to a central unloading point suchas that shown in FIG. 1. The rearmost door 32 in the loaded trailer 11is removed and the fluid lines 72 and 74 connected to the tractor T sothat motor 71 drives the upper flight 50 of conveyor belt 45 rearwardlyin the bed 19 along channel 25. To unload the watermelons from bed 19, aworker simply rolls the watermelons into the conveyor channel 25 ontothe moving upper flight 50 of belt 45. Because of the catenary crosssectional shape of belt 45 and the elongate shape of the watermelons W,the watermelons tend to align themselves so that their major axes areoriented generally parallel to the belt axis and longitudinal traileraxis A_(T). The watermelons are carried rearwardly out of trailer 11 onthe upper flight 50 of belt 45 through the opening 80 in rear end wall38 and deposited on the free standing conveyor 12 as seen in FIG. 1 andas will become more apparent. As more of the doors 32 are uncoveredduring the unloading operation, they are removed to gain access toconveyor channel 25 and thus minimize the amount of movement required toget the watermelons onto the upper flight 50 of belt 45 moving alongchannel 25. Because watermelons are relatively heavy, normally about15-30 pounds, the workers can operate the trailer 11 without the earlyfatigue normally associated with prior art harvesting operations.

FREE STANDING CONVEYOR

The free standing truck conveyor 12 (FIGS. 1 and 9-12) receives theproduce from the rear end of trailer unloading conveyor 20 andtransports same to a discharge point, shown as the interior of a trailerTT_(R) of a tractor-trailer truck TT in FIG. 1. The conveyor 12 may beused to transport the produce to any convenient discharge point and maylikewise be used to unload trailer TT_(R).

The conveyor 12 has an infeed section 90 pivotally connected to anoutfeed section 91 so that sections 90 and 91 have laterally alignedlongitudinal axes A_(IS) and A_(OS) (FIG. 1) that pivot about the pivotjoint 92 (FIGS. 9 and 11) between sections 90 and 91 at which axesA_(IS) and A_(OS) intersect. Each of the conveyor sections 90 and 91have a similar cross sectional shape with a pair of opposed, U-shapedside channels 94 (FIG. 10) extending along the length of each section 90and 91 which are held in a parallel, spaced apart position by aplurality of cross channels 95 (FIG. 10) at longitudinally spaced apartpositions along the length of each section 90 and 91. A V-shapedconveyor support pan 96 (FIG. 10) similar to pan 26 in trailer 11extends along the length of each conveyor section 90 and 91. The legs 98(FIG. 10) of pan 96 are angled similarly to legs 28 on pan 26 and servethe same purpose. The pivot joint 92 between sections 90 and 91 is apair of hinges 99 (FIG. 11) mounted between each pair of side channels94 which also serve to mount a conveyor belt return idler 100therebetween as will become more apparent. The infeed end of section 90of conveyor 12 mounts an idler unit 101 (FIGS. 9 and 12) while thedischarge end of outfeed section 91 of conveyor 12 mounts a drive unit102 (FIGS. 9 and 10).

The idler unit 101 has an idler roller 104 (FIG. 12) similar to roller55 rotatably mounted about an axis generally normal to the infeedsection axis A_(IS). Roller 104 is adjustable similar to roller 55 tocontrol belt tension and tracking. The infeed end of section 90 may alsohave a pair of hitches 105 (FIG. 12) which can be pinned to appropriateplates 106 on the drive unit 48 on trailer 11 with pins 108 so that theproper spacing between the infeed end of conveyor 12 and the dischargeend of the trailer unloading conveyor 20 can be maintained to assuresmooth transfer of the produce from trailer 11 to conveyor 12.

The drive unit 102 is similar in construction to drive unit 48 ontrailer 11 with drive roller 110 (FIG. 10) driven by fluid drive motor112 about an axis generally normal to the outfeed section axis A_(OS).The roller 110 is also adjustable to control belt tension and belttracking. An endless conveyor belt 114 extends along the length ofconveyor 12 around rollers 104 and 110 so that its upper flight 115 ismoved along pans 96 from the infeed end of conveyor 12 to its dischargeend.

A transfer idler roller 120 (FIG. 11) is rotatably mounted between theside channels 94 at the pivot joint 92 so that the upper flight 115 ofbelt 114 passes smoothly over the joint between sections 90 and 91. Thelower return flight 116 of belt 114 passes over the cross channels 95(FIG. 12) and the return idler 100 (FIG. 11). Rollers 104, 110 and 120may be provided with a raised central band as rollers 55 and 66 toassist in belt tracking.

The fluid drive motor 112 is connected to the hydraulic auxiliary powersupply from the farm tractor via the auxiliary lines 76 and 78 (FIG. 10)connected in parallel with trailer conveyor motor 71 (FIGS. 5 and 6). Adisabling switch SW_(D) (FIG. 10) is provided at the discharge end ofthe outfeed section 91 so that a workman can activate same to causesolenoid valve V_(S) (FIGS. 5-7) to stop the operation of motors 71 and112 as will become more apparent.

The conveyor 12 is mounted on a base carriage 125 (FIGS. 1 and 9) withground engaging wheels 126 rotatable about a common axis normal to theconveyor axes A_(IS) and A_(OS) so that conveyor 12 can be towed intoposition. The base carriage 125 is fixed to the outfeed section 91 andconnected to the infeed section 90 through an adjustable link 128 (FIG.9) to permit the sections 90 and 91 to pivot about joint 92. Anappropriate stand 129 (FIG. 9) may be provided to stabilize the conveyor12.

The discharge end of the outfeed section 91 is positioned by asupplemental carriage 130 (FIGS. 1, 9 and 10). The supplemental carriage130 has bed engaging wheels 131 and a pair of upright posts 132. Thedischarge end of section 91 is adjusted along posts 132 via slide tubes134 on section 91 and pins 135 that extend through appropriate holes inthe posts 132. The bed engaging wheels 131 roll along the surface onwhich the unloading workers stand such as the truck bed in trailerTT_(R) with the carriage 130 adjusting the discharge end of section 91above the truck bed as will become more apparent.

FREE STANDING CONVEYOR OPERATION

While the free standing conveyor 12 may be used to transport producebetween any two locations, it is especially designed to transportproduce from the trailer 11 to the trailer TT_(R) of the tractor-trailertruck TT as seen in FIG. 1. The operation of conveyor 12 will bedescribed as applicable to watermelons W as was the case with trailer12. The wheels 131 on the supplemental carriage 130 are placed on thebed of trailer TT_(R) and the conveyor 12 moved so that the dischargeend of the outfeed section 91 is located in the vicinity of the interiorof trailer TT_(R) at which the watermelons W are to be stacked. Theheight H_(C) (FIG. 9) of the discharge end of conveyor 12 is adjusted bymanipulating the pins 135 in slide tubes 134 and posts 132 so that thewatermelons are discharged therefrom at about waist high to the worker(normally called a catcher) receiving them.

Because watermelons are fragile, they are normally stacked in transverselayers as seen in FIG. 1 by a special worker commonly known as astacker. Straw or some similar packing material is placed between thelayers of watermelons to protect same. Thus, it will be seen that thecatcher catches the watermelons moving off of the end of the conveyor 12and passes them to the stacker for stacking. If something happens toprevent the catcher from keeping up with the watermelons moving upconveyor 12, he can activate switch SW_(D) to stop conveyor 12 and alsothe unloading conveyor 20 in trailer 11. He can then deactivate switchSW_(D) to again start conveyors 12 and 20.

After supplemental carriage 130 is in position, the rear end of trailer11 is backed up to the forward end of infeed section 90 on conveyor 12so that the trailer axis A_(T) is generally laterally aligned with theconveyor axes A_(IS) and A_(OS). The pins 108 may be used to connect thehitches 105 on conveyor 12 to the plates 106 on trailer 11 as seen inFIG. 12. The auxiliary fluid lines 76 and 78 are connected through motor71 (FIG. 5) while the fluid lines 72 and 74 are connected to the tractorT (FIG. 1).

The motors 71 and 112 are started so that the watermelons W aredischarged rearwardly from the trailer conveyor belt 45 onto the forwardend of the upper flight 115 of the free standing conveyor belt 114. Thewatermelons then travel up the infeed section 90 on belt 114, over thetransfer idler roller 120, and then up the outfeed section 91 to thecatcher on belt 114. As more layers of watermelons are laid in thetrailer TT_(R), the discharge point from conveyor 12 can be moved eitherby driving the trailer truck TT forwardly while conveyor 12 is not movedor by moving trailer 11 and conveyor 12 while the trailer TT_(R) is notmoved.

What is claimed as invention is:
 1. In a produce handling system forrelatively heavy fragile produce such as watermelons, cantaloupes andthe like, a free standing conveyor comprising:an infeed sectionincluding a first pair of spaced apart longitudinally extending sidemembers defining a first conveyor channel therebetween along the lengthof said infeed section, a plurality of transversely extending firstcross members connecting said first side members at longitudinallyspaced positions, and a first support pan extending along the length ofsaid infeed section between said first side members over said firstcross members and having a generally V-shaped cross-sectionalconfiguration transversely of said first conveyor channel so that saidfirst support pan extends across the transverse width of said firstconveyor channel; an outfeed section including a second pair of spacedapart, longitudinally extending side members defining a second conveyorchannel therebetween along the length of said outfeed section, aplurality of transversely extending second cross members connecting saidsecond side members at longitudinally spaced positions, and a secondsupport pan extending along the length of said outfeed section betweensaid second side members over said second cross members and having agenerally V-shaped cross-sectional configuration transversely of saidsecond conveyor channel so that said second support pan extends acrossthe transverse width of said second conveyor channel; connection meansconnecting one end of said infeed section to one end of said outfeedsection so that the longitudinal axes of said infeed and outfeedsections are generally laterally aligned; an idler unit at one end ofsaid free standing conveyor; a drive unit at the opposite end of saidfree standing conveyor; and an endless conveyor belt extending along thelength of said first V-shaped pan, along the length of said secondV-shaped pan, around said drive unit, and around said idler unit so thatsaid first and second support pans support said conveyor belt alongopposite edges thereof when said conveyor belt is unloaded with saidconveyor belt forming a natural catenary shape not in contact with saidV-shaped pans between the opposed edges of said conveyor belt to cushionthe produce being placed on said conveyor belt as conveyor belt movesthe produce along said first and second conveyor channels so that saidfirst and second support channels support those portions of saidconveyor belt between the opposed edges of said conveyor belt distortedout of the catenary shape by the weight of the produce thereon toprevent damage to the produce as said conveyor belt supports and movesthe produce along said free standing conveyor.
 2. In the producehandling system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said free standingconveyor further includes base carriage supporting said infeed andoutfeed sections intermediate the ends of said free standing conveyor;and a supplemental carriage connected to said outfeed section adjacentthat end of said outfeed section opposite said infeed section so thatsaid free standing conveyor is supported between said base carriage andsaid supplemental carriage.
 3. In the produce handling system as setforth in claim 2 for use in loading the produce into a truck trailer bedwherein said base carriage includes ground engaging wheels and whereinsaid supplemental carriage includes trailer bed engaging wheels andadjustment means connecting said outfeed section to said supplementalcarriage to selectively vary the spacing between said outfeed sectionand said trailer bed engaging wheels to adjust the height of that end ofsaid outfeed section opposite said infeed section above the trucktrailer bed.
 4. In the produce handling system as set forth in claim 3further including disabling means at that end of said outfeed sectionopposite said infeed section for selectively disabling said drive unit.5. In the produce handling system as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidconnection means includes a pivot joint pivotally connecting said infeedand outfeed sections so that said infeed and outfeed sections can bepivoted with respect to each other.
 6. In the produce handling system asset forth in claim 5 wherein said free standing conveyor furtherincludes a transfer idler unit at said pivot joint between said firstand second support pans and wherein said conveyor belt extends over saidtransfer idler unit as it moves from said first support pan to saidsecond support pan.
 7. In the produce handling system as set forth inclaim 6 wherein said free standing conveyor further includes a basecarriage supporting said outfeed section in the vicinity of said pivotjoint; a supplemental carriage adjustably supporting said outfeedsection adjacent that end opposite said pivot joint; and link meansadjustably connecting said infeed section to said base carriage toselectively adjust the pivotal position of said infeed section relativeto said outfeed section about said pivot joint.
 8. In the producehandling system as set forth in claim 7 further including disablingmeans at that end of said outfeed section opposite said pivot joint forselectively disabling said drive unit.